Acknowledgement
by Hyper V
Summary: All Alfons Heiderich wants is to be acknowledged as his own person. Will Edward grant him this wish or just push him aside forever? HeiEd, T because I'm paranoid. First attempt at angst. Happy October 3rd everyone!


**I started this a long time ago and thought to finish it and publish it. I think it's ok, but since I started it, my writing style has changed, so if things at the bottom get a bit out of whack, that's just because I was trying to revert back to my previous writing style. **

**Also, this is a first attempt at ANGST! I know! I never write angst! EVER! But it just turned out this way since I'm a bit depressed. One of our cheerleading teammate broke her wrist while trying to do a backbend. I was there! NOT PRETTY! So now the whole team is depressed and her best friend was crying and . . . just . . . yeah, now we're all really sad. AND COMPETITION IS IN A FEW WEEKS! She's a base and we only have 10 members on our team! That's including her. **

**So enjoy this! **

**~0~**

Alfons Heiderich didn't know when it was the Edward Elric – mysterious foreigner with strange colored eyes – stopped looking at him like Alfons was his brother – whom Edward talked about far too much for Alfons's opinion – and started looking at him like he was an individual human being. All Alfons knew was it was about a year after they had met. The meeting was confusing – more so for Alfons than Edward, really – with Edward talking to Alfons like they were good old friends since way back in the day.

There was another major problem back then that really caught Alfons's attention: the language Edward was speaking. It didn't seem familiar in the slightest, sort of a mix of different languages with its own accent to accommodate it, and it intrigued Alfons really to know what language it was. When Edward seemed to realize that Alfons didn't seem to know a single word he was saying, he switched to fluent German. This baffled Alfons even more so that the strange talk.

"You look just like him." Those were the famous first words that came out of Edward's mouth in German after the incident. The next words were puzzling: "But you couldn't be him because I left him on the other side of the Gate." Then, as id to test something, he looked at the blue eyed man and asked very timidly, "Alphonse?"

Alfons thought of it as creepy at the time that a man he had never met before in his life – well, not that he knew of, because for some reason this guy did look familiar – would know his name. It was strange – and very odd – and Alfons, poor, poor Alfons, didn't know how to respond at that moment.

"Ah, yes?" was the answer he had finally come up with after a while. He didn't know exactly why he had even answered at the time because the name the man uttered sounded marginally different than his actual name. But now he knew he had to respond because the look in the man's eyes pleaded for two totally different things. One was probably that he hoped he was right and the other one was probably that he hoped he was wrong. Then, the boy looked Alfons dead in the eyes and a look of sadness came over him. Now Alfons knew it was because Edward's brother had goldish grey eyes, not bright blue ones.

But the boy ended up introducing himself anyway and sooner or later they became friends. And the next thing Alfons knew, they were roommates. And even though they went through a lot of changes, the one thing that never really changed was Edward always looking at Alfons like he was the younger brother, and this annoyed Alfons – even if he never showed it.

So when was it that Edward stopped looking and thinking of Alfons as a brother? The answer was simple: Edward had simply just stopped looking at him altogether. It was hurtful and Alfons felt kind of let down by it, but he never let it show. He would be strong, he would tell himself, and he would act like he didn't care. He wanted Edward to look at him and acknowledge him for him, not because he looked like a relative, and Alfons didn't know why it hurt so much that Edward was rejecting him.

It had all started on a Sunday – or maybe it was a Saturday? Alfons couldn't really tell because he wasn't paying much attention. Or maybe it was a _sunny day _– in the afternoon around lunch time because that was around the time that Edward woke up and made himself coffee – not that Alfons was keeping track, no sir-ry – and read a book or the paper. Alfons had been at the table working on a new rocket diagram for work. Edward had lumbered into the kitchen still in his night clothes – which consisted of a work shirt and his boxers, not Alfons noticed – and half asleep. He had by then wobbled to the cabinets and opened them, searching for something to eat.

And so the morning ritual went with Edward raiding the cupboards and reading a book – he sure was good at multitasking – and so on. This ritual was interrupted however when Edward stopped in the middle of his reading, pausing the cup of coffee that was halfway between his mouth and the table, and stood up abruptly, quickly glancing at Alfons before setting down his cup and promptly running out of the room, leaving a flabbergasted Alfons and half eaten breakfast behind. Alfons would note later that the event had been the last time Edward had looked at – and talked to – Alfons before stopping altogether.

Edward had promptly stopped being anywhere near Alfons for days. Alfons didn't know how long either of them could keep this up. Alfons needed Edward for his brain and help with difficult equations along with the cool stories Edward would tell to pass the time – Alfons still didn't know whether they were true or not. On the other hand, Edward needed someone he could trust and tell stuff to since his little brother wasn't with him. In addition, they balanced each other out and without one consoling the other the whole world felt like it was off balance to Alfons. And Alfons figured that Edward felt the same way.

So why had Edward stop interacting with him? Well, Alfons needed to find that out quickly or else je was just going to go on feeling abandoned and lonely. And so, with that in mind, Alfons decided to confront Edward about the whole ordeal.

~0~

It had rained the night before and now the streets were wet and the air was foggy and the sky was still grey with ominous clouds; the sun hadn't shown its bright face for days. People said it would most likely snow with the week and they would get over 3 feet of snow in Munich, Germany. The cold was setting in and everyone was getting out their thick wool blankets and if they could afford it, would buy firewood to warm their homes as best they could. Unfortunately, Alfons was one of those people who couldn't afford wood and had to resort to the itchy wool blankets that they _could _afford. Edward didn't mind at all, or at least didn't seem to mind, but Alfons couldn't tell because Edward was still refusing to talk to him.

Alfons sighed, putting away his calculations and equations that he would usually have Edward do, but since the incident . . . Alfons shook his head. He needed to stop thinking of those things and get his head around another subject at hand. Like the due date for the new model rocket that his team was building. That was probably going to be pushed back due to the oncoming storm, but it was better to have it done for the original due date than wait. Always better to be safe than to be sorry.

The door to the flat opened and closed announcing that Edward was home from somewhere. He never did tell Alfons where he was going anymore, just hung his head, mumbled something unintelligent and walked out the door without looking back. He would later come home, grumble some more, and lock himself in his room and only come out for meals. Alfons stood up suddenly, almost knocking his chair over in the process. He had had enough of Edward's attitude and he was going to fix the problem now, no more stalling.

He walked over as Edward took his coat off and put it on the rack, about to head to his room. "Edward, we need to talk." The tone of his voice shocked both of them, but Alfons shook his head, soon recovering. "You've been ignoring me for some time and I can't take it anymore!" His voice steadily rose as he talked, making Edward look up at Alfons's face which was shadowed, his head down. "You can't keep treating me like I don't exist!" Alfons finally looked up, almost on the verge of tears. Edward took a step back, stunned.

"Alfons . . ." he whispered, a little taken aback by the taller boy's forwardness, but before he could get anything else out, Alfons flew out of the entryway and into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. "Alfons, wait! It's not what you think!" Edward ran after him, slamming his fist of the door once. After no response came, he placed his forehead on the door in thought. He just couldn't do anything right could he? A look of anger crossed his face, not at Alfons, but at himself for not saying what he needed to say in time. Not that Alfons really gave him a chance to speak.

Without thinking, Edward threw the door open, letting it bang against the wall like he used to do when he visited Mustang to turn in his reports. Alfons looked up solemnly from his place on the bed, his hands folded in his lap and a look of utter distress on his face. Edward marched over to him, taking him by the color, and Alfons expected him to get a punch to the face, but what he really got was a kiss, nice and warm and a little sloppy, but it was his first kiss and he like it. He was stunned to say the least and not expecting it, but he took it in stride. He would never say he didn't want it.

Finally, after what felt like hours but was just a few seconds, Edward looked down at him, a look of anger on his face. "Fool, I wasn't ignoring you because I don't like you or anything, I was just trying to think things through!" Alfons, still quite shocked and his mind not working quite right, took a while to process everything that had happened.

"But why-?"

"Don't you think if you were me and you fell for someone that looked like your brother that you would be in shock and want to think it over too?" Edward too a deep breath and let it out. "I just woke up one morning and realized that I like you, maybe a little more than I should." Another deep breath. "Is that ok with you?" Alfons nodded his head fervently and Edward chuckled. "Good, because if you weren't this would have been really awkward."

Alfons just smiled and nodded his head, still swiped of his vocal cords.

**~0~**

**Happy October 3****rd**** everyone! I hope you're enjoying this fandom wide holiday! This is my first year celebrating it! I hope you enjoyed and please review! I very much appreciate your feedback! **


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